Let me state right off: I am not likening our president to Hitler or Stalin.

But let me add to that, I think it’s reprehensible to make use of children, who do not have enough maturity to make decisions affecting the society they live in, to position oneself politically, or attempt to soften one’s image, or appear warm and fuzzy by making use of children.

I say: If politicians want to visit a school and greet children, do it in secret, with no cameras or journalists.

That goes for Bush, Clinton, Obama… all of them.

In 2002, I and my wife at the time had dinner with a couple of friends from Germany, here temporarily on work visas, and we were chatting about the still-recent 9/11 event.

They talked about how interesting it was to see moods go from horror, to acceptance, to resolve, to getting to work immediately, and to see Americans join together in solidarity, all in the span of a few days. Then, almost as if they were confiding in a close friend, in whispered tones, they told me something I will never forget: It was frightening to them to see all the US flags coming out, being waved by everyone.

I presumed this was some leftover or handed-down fear of the American flag being associated with bombs or gunfire, but no, it was from a position of national shame. Germany, they explained, is still deeply embarrassed by what the Nazis did. And Germany is still embarrassed by all the enthusiastic nationalism, patriotism and “Germany’s the best!” attitude they all engaged in. And of course, the horror it all led to.

Germany, they had learned in school, had become a country of flag-wavers just prior to the Nazi takeover. To them, all the flag waving was, to my German friends, now, a dire warning of politicians winning the hearts of an entire country — because when you can do that, then you can do almost anything in the name of your country. I was so blinded and deafened by national pride and a “need for national vengeance” at that time that I thought they were crazy for comparing America to Nazi Germany in even the remotest way. But I noted that it was an interesting take on all that was going on… as the USA prepared to go destroy both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Over 10 years later, I can still hear their voices and see the looks on their faces as they talked about what could come after the flag-waving… and I am very inclined, now, to think they were right. There is much to be concerned about.

Watch what America’s leaders do. Does it resemble anything we have seen in the past? Does it matter much that we are America and they were the bad guys? Are America really the good guys like we’ve been taught? Are we really spreading democracy? And if we are a Republic (rule of law) why do we spread democracy (rule of majority) anyway? Our founding fathers went out of their way to avoid democracy. Do we have more flaws than we let on? Are our flaws as big as the Emperor’s naked behind? Are we the only ones who don’t see what we have become?

I see what’s going on with gun control, using crises, using children… I see that the Executive Orders of yesterday have little if anything to do with any laws that would have prevented what happened at Sandy Hook, yet they were leveled on the American people as a response to Sandy Hook. What is the bigger picture? What is in our future? What kind of world is my grandson going to grow up in?

My German friends may have been righter than they could have imagined.

Update — 2/19/2013

Since I wrote this it has come out, but not widely reported by the bought-and-paid-for Media, that Adam Lanza did not use a so-called ‘assault rifle’ (not even the AR-15 he was reported to have used) in the massacre. He used only hand-guns. This makes the Executive Orders banning guns as a response to the Sandy Hook massacre nothing but a political show, using the deaths of innocent children as a smoke-and-mirrors springboard for a political grab. Whether you believe in a person’s right to bear arms or not, you must in all honesty admit that the gun ban has no roots in Sandy Hook beyond showmanship and fantasy.

I hope we get to the truth of why and how these innocent, precious lives were ended. The official story, again, has a stench about it.